Asher eyed the humshus with its long insertion. It was designed for filling the mouth. Filling thethroat.Asher had felt it on every swallow. But getting to see the foreign object made it seem less oppressive somehow, though he couldn’t exactly explain why. Maybe it was just because, for Asher, the unknown was always so much scarier.
Besides, with this particular humshus in his mouth, there was absolutely no way Asher could be fed something he didn’t want to be eating.
Plus the mouthpiece was nicer than the one on the ball gag. He remembered that from having it in before. Though the insert itself was thick enough to be felt as it filled the throat, the mouthpiece narrowed considerably. Asher had been able to close his mouth almost completely around it, which had relieved all the tension he’d been carrying in his jaw. And there’d still been something substantial between his teeth to bite down on.
Vrayl was just waiting, holding the gag. He wasn’t forcing it into Asher’s mouth. He was letting Asher take his time, to see this new humshus and accept it.
Asher opened his mouth.
“So lovely for us, Asher,” Vrayl crooned as he slid the insertion into Asher’s mouth, over his tongue and down his throat. “Such a pretty, perfect yshain.”
Yshain. Vessel. Subvocalization: beloved. Subvocalization: of highest rank.
Asher made a startled noise as he processed that. Vessel… made sense, he guessed. He’d have to be stupid to not put two and two together as part of what he wasforhere, but he’d expected it to mean something closer to “breeder” or… or “fucktoy” or something.
A vessel okay, but… highly ranked?
And… andbeloved?
“Youareperfect, little love,” Trenet said, clearly taking Asher’s noise as one of disbelief. “So sweet for us, always.”
Okay, that Asher was incredulous about. There was nothing about his behavior over the last several days that had been sweet. He shook his head as soon as Vrayl finished securing that band of his humshus.
“I know it’s hard to believe,” Vrayl said, smoothing a hand over Asher’s twisted braid. “You came from such hardship. But we’d never hold that against you, dear heart. You’reours.Our beautiful Asher. Our sweet, precious yshain. You’re not meant for hardship. You’re meant to be held and filled and pleasured, always. And it’s our great privilege to be the ones to take care of you.”
For the second time, Asher felt his eyes grow wet. He swallowed quickly around the insertion in his mouth and found it grounding, to feel it filling his throat. Something solid. Something real.
Something to prove that this wasn’t all just some fever dream he was having on Journey-5, cold and hungry and so achingly lonely that it burned in his chest.
“Bath time, I think,” Trenet said, before rising from his seat, Asher in his arms.
Asher curled up in Trenet’s arms, tucking his face into the Dresht’s chest. Right now, right here, was real. Trenet and Vrayl were real. And…
And they seemed to truly mean—to truly believe—the words they spoke.
It was hard not to feel emotional about being called perfect, precious,belovedwith every breath, when he’d spent so much of his life trying to hide in plain sight. When he’d lived with the knowledge that everyone in his life, aside from his immediate family, would turn against him if they knew the truth. Teachers, classmates, close friends—
Asher would never have survived, had his secret gotten out.
When they got to the bathing area, Trenet continued to hold Asher in his arms while Vrayl disrobed. Once Vrayl was naked, Trenet handed Asher over, so that he could also undress. Asher was never left alone, never left cold or untouched.
Vrayl cradled Asher in his arms while Trenet reached for Asher’s shorts, undoing the drawstring and then maneuvering the silky garment over Asher’s thighs, down his legs, and off, baring him completely to the room.
“Perfect,” Trenet said, and Asher’s breathing went shaky as Trenet bent to press his lips to one of Asher’s thighs, then the other. “Our beautiful Asher, with his pretty green eyes and soft, smooth skin.”
“Lovely long, red hair,” Vrayl put him, pressing a kiss to the top of Asher’s head. “And the cute little spots that decorate his body.”
“And so small,” Trenet added in his deep growl. “To fit so well between us.”
“We are lucky Dresht indeed, my mate,” Vrayl said. “All those cycles we spent waiting, all those rejections…”
“Worth it, to have Asher with us today,” Trenet said, once again reaching out, this time to cup Asher’s ass with one large palm, making Asher gasp.
Trenet slid his fingers between Asher’s cheeks to grasp the base of the senchr. Asher heard himself make a caught sound as Trenet began to ease it free.
“I know, little love,” Trenet said. “I know you hate to go without. But it will only be for a few moments.”
“You’ve been so brave for so long,” Vrayl said, nuzzling the top of Asher’s head. “I can’t begin to imagine how hard it was, growing up the way you did, surviving on Journey-5 as you could. But you’ll never go without again, dear heart. You’ll never have to struggle again.”
